Can George Zimmerman prevail against NBC?Posted by Erik Wemple on December 6, 2012 at 7:30 pm

The just-filed suit by George Zimmerman against NBC Universal and three employees furnishes some flaming legal invective. It claims that NBC News, via its repeated mis-editing of a 911 audiotape, portrayed Zimmerman as a “racist and predatory villain.” The motivation behind such a portrayal, charges the suit, was to gin up “topics” for the network’s “failing news programs.”

Tough-sounding stuff.

The goods to back up the suit’s central allegations are all out there on video feeds across the Internet. NBC News editing of that 911 audiotape gave viewers the impression that Zimmerman had volunteered that Trayvon Martin was black, when in fact the 911 dispatcher asked him about the young man’s racial appearance.

For the purposes of a libel case, then, Zimmerman should have little trouble proving that NBC News broadcast false and defamatory material about him. The stiff legal challenge for Zimmerman & Co. lies in another phase of the proceedings, and that is proving damages from NBC’s treatment. ::snipping2::

George Zimmerman’s attorney Mark O’Mara says his client will not accept a plea deal to avoid going to trial on a murder charge in the death of Trayvon Martin.

On Thursday, O’Mara told In Session correspondent Jean Casarez that he would not allow his client to accept a plea deal. “I wouldn’t plea someone who is innocent. So I think the answer is pretty easily no,” said O’Mara. ::snipping2::

Why didn’t NBC News apologize to George Zimmerman?Posted by Erik Wemple on December 7, 2012 at 12:41 pm

There are lots of damning allegations against NBC News in the “reckless defamation” lawsuit filed yesterday by lawyers for George Zimmerman. It charges NBC News with an effort to “create the myth that George Zimmerman was a racist and predatory villain” in its coverage of the Trayvon Martin case.

NBC Universal has already slapped back that contention. A statement issued yesterday to the Erik Wemple Blog states, in part, “There was no intent to portray Mr. Zimmerman unfairly.”

There’s at least one other claim in the suit, however, that won’t prompt a sharp denial from NBC:

To this day, the defendants have never apologized to Zimmerman for deliberately portraying him as a hostile racist who targeted Martin due to his race…” ::snipping2::James Beasley, the Philadelphia-based lawyer who’s representing Zimmerman, says his office requested retraction from NBC News in late September/early October. “Nothing of substance ever came through,” says Beasley. “You give the defendants the opportunity to correct it, and the fact that they don’t goes toward the issue of malice.”

NBC Universal didn’t respond to a request for comment in time for this post.

The following NOTICE OF HEARING has been filed, along with the following motions. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 9:00 a.m.

Notice of HearingDefendant's Motion to Take Additional DepositionDefendant's Motion to Compel Production of Evidence from Third-PartyDefendant's Motion to Compel Additional DiscoveryDefendant's Motion to Compel Regarding Voice IdentificationDefendant's Motion to Modify Conditions of ReleaseDefendant's Motion for Clarification of Order Setting BailDefendant's Amended Demand for Specific Discovery from Federal Bureau of InvestigationDefendant's Amended Demand for Specific Discovery from Department of Justice Community Relations Services

At least six months ahead of George Zimmerman's murder trial, the Miami-Dade County Youth Commission is preparing to promote nonviolence, mainly through schools, churches and police departments.

"Some schools have held demonstrations and walkouts and that's great, that's the path we want to continue on instead of fights breaking out, that's hopefully want we don't want to happen,” Miami-Dade County Youth Commissioner Natalia Gonzalez said.

The highly sensitive case prompted the county's community relations board to create a plan to calm tensions before, during and after the trial of Zimmerman, 29, which is scheduled for June. He shot and killed Trayvon Martin, 17, of Miami Gardens in Sanford in February. Zimmerman claims the shooting was in self-defense and has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

The community relations board’s chair, Dr. Walter T. Richardson, presented its nonviolence campaign to the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners early Tuesday.

Richardson said there will be people who will be disappointed however the trial turns out, and there are people who support Zimmerman.

”And then there are people, a large majority of people, from what I'm hearing, that will be affected if the trial goes the other way and he's found not guilty. And so either way we need to make sure our citizens are informed,” Richardson said.

::snipping2::

Logged

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has!" Margaret Mead

On Thursday, George Zimmerman filed suit against NBC News and three NBC producers he accuses of intentionally painting him as a racist. Zimmerman and his attorneys have now done what many in the new media only dream of doing, holding the major media responsible for their biased and misleading output.

The language in the complaint is blunt. It calls NBC's coverage "yellow journalism" and refers to "journalistic crimes." Most broadly, the complaint accuses NBC of trumping up a racism narrative for ratings, with a name check of the Today Show and Rev. Al Sharpton in particular. Here are some of the highlights or, if you prefer, the media's lowlights from the complaint: 1. NBC saw the death of Trayvon Martin not as a tragedy but as an opportunity to increase ratings, and so set about to create the myth that George Zimmerman was a racist and predatory villain. Their goal was simple: keep their viewers alarmed, and thus always watching, by menacing them with a reprehensible series of imaginary and exaggerated racist claims.2.NBC created this false and defamatory mis-impression using the oldest form of yellow journalism: manipulating Zimmerman's own words, splicing together disparate parts of the recording to create the illusion of statements that Zimmerman never actually made.3.Defendants pounced on the Zimmerman/Martin matter because they knew this tragedy could be, with proper sensationalizing and manipulation, a racial poweder keg that could result in months, if not years, of topics for their failing news programs, particularly the plummeting ratings for their ailing Today Show.4.The defendants media arson was ignited on March 19, 2012, when NBC and defendant [Jeff] Burside broadcast from Sanford, Florida the first manipulated audio of the call.5.Defendants' improper juxtaposition of unrelated dialogue between Zimmerman and the dispatcher was specifically done to imply that Zimmerman had a racist motive.6.Only after defendants' malicious acts were uncovered and exposed by other media outlets...did defendant NBC "apologize" and terminate some of those in its employ responsible for the yellow journalism identified in this Complaint. 7.In addition to portraying Zimmerman as a racist via their manipulative editing, the defendants also falsely claimed, without any legitimate basis -- and in spite of what the Sanford police had concluded -- that Zimmerman also stated a "racial epithet" during the call.8.Only after other news and internet media identified these outrageous manipulations did NBC address them, with a sham "investigation" that attempted to sweep their yellow journalism -- intended to exacerbate racial tensions, at the expense of Zimmerman and the truth -- under the rug; NBC's President, Steve Capus, made a bogus non-apology that claimed the doctoring was merely a "mistake."9.All of the defendant's actions have substantially contributed to a media frenzy including rallies provoked by NBC personnel such as the Reverend Al Sharpton (and employee of NBC, who reported on his own rallies on behalf of NBC) and public misunderstanding which has caused severe damage to the plaintiff, including death threats and a bounty for his capture.10.Due to the defendants' journalistic crimes, Zimmerman has been transformed into one of the most hated men in America. Plaintiff seeks substantial compensatory and exemplary damages to punish the defendants for their outrageous fraud upon the public, designed to mislead our nation, create a national uproar, forever ostracize Zimmerman, and taint his jury pool, all to profit and attract attention to their television news programs. ::snipping2::

Prosecutor: Zimmerman trying to 'co-opt the mantle of victimhood' from Trayvon Martin12/10/12

In a blistering response to a recent filing by George Zimmerman's defense team, prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda accuses the second-degree murder defendant of attempting "to co-opt the mantle of victimhood for himself."

Zimmerman's legal team had asked Circuit Judge Debra Nelson to force an attorney for the family of Trayvon Martin, the Miami Gardens teen shot by Zimmerman Feb. 26 in Sanford, to turn over a recorded interview of a witness described as the teen's girlfriend.

In its filing, the defense argued Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump was not forthcoming in response to requests for the original copy of the recording of the girl, who is identified in prosecution documents as "Witness 8."

That request is set to be among several motions heard by Nelson tomorrow, but today, de la Rionda fired back at what he described as the Zimmerman team's "revisionist history."

"No matter how often, how viciously, or how vociferously Defense Counsel tries to attack Mr. Crump and make him a feature of this case, he is not the issue," de la Rionda writes in his response, arguing Zimmerman's "goal... is not legitimately to gather relevant evidence in this criminal case. Rather, he is clearly more interested in defending his own supposed 'reputation' than in permitting a judge and/or a jury to consider his actions."

De la Rionda goes on to explain that prosectors have arranged for the recording device to be turned over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, as the defense requested.

Zimmerman's defense team, in a reply to the state's filing, indicated that it would withdraw its motion if the state can show the device has been turned over to FDLE. ::snipping2::

Hubs thinks that George will get off on the charges and thinks that there will be riots..we will see...I think that George will be found not guilty as well.

Hopefully, a good jury is picked; one that will consider all the evidence, testimony of witnesses and experts--unlike the Anthony's jurors who appeared to arrive at a verdict based on the opening/closing statements.

Will George Zimmerman regret Hannity interview?Posted by Erik Wemple on December 10, 2012 at 4:18 pm

::snipping2::As it gears up to defend itself, NBC Universal is all but certain to mount a familiar argument. Zimmerman, it will likely contend, is a “public figure” for the purposes of the lawsuit. Under defamation law, those whom the court terms “public figures” bear a heightened burden of proof when bringing a libel case against a news outlet. They must prove that the outlet acted knowingly to spread falsehoods or with reckless disregard of the truth — a standard known to lawyers as “actual malice.” Regular folks — non-public figures, that is — have much less burden to prevail in a libel action; they need prove only that the news outlet acted with negligence or carelessness. The spirit behind the bifurcated standard in libel cases is to “free criticism of public officials from the restraints imposed by the common law of defamation.”

Atlanta attorney Lin Wood calls public-figure arguments “the linchpin for successful defense of defamation cases.” ::snipping2::Wood focuses on chronology in determining whether Zimmerman is adjudged a public figure. The NBC News tape-manglings occurred in late March, though Zimmerman didn’t go on “Hannity” until months later. “If his public appearances … by way of the Internet and television interviews were subsequent in time to the edited tape, I believe he would be deemed a private figure,” says Wood.

Yet Wood also notes that NBC Universal could well try to categorize Zimmerman as an “involuntary public figure,” which is essentially someone who acquires a high profile for being “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” as Wood puts it. Should be a fascinating case.

::snipping2::Read In Session’s live blog below for minute-by-minute recap of Tuesday’s hearing:

10:27 a.m. ET: The hearing has concluded.

10:26 a.m. ET: Nelson has scheduled time for future hearings on January 8, and February 5.

10:25 a.m. ET: Nelson is discussing future dates with attorneys from both sides.

10:21 a.m. ET: Judge Nelson denied the defense's motion requesting an amendment to Zimmerman's bond restrictions. Zimmerman will have to stay in Seminole county, and will have to continue wearing a GPS tracking device.

10:19 a.m. ET: O'Mara says he wants reasonable bond restrictions, and he deserves the freedom to travel around the state of Florida and to remove the GPS tracking device.

10:18 a.m. ET: O'Mara says his client wears a bulletproof vest, and he should be able to leave the county for his safety. He also says there is a reason why Zimmerman was told by his university and employer that he couldn't come back after the shooting.

10:16 a.m. ET: O'Mara says he wants the case to go to trial, but wants his client to make it to trial hinting at the fact that Zimmerman's life is in danger.

10:14 a.m. ET: Defense attorney O'Mara says that the case has inflamed the nation, and his client shouldn't have to deal with it in hiding.

10:12 a.m. ET: Prosecutor de la Rionda wraps his argument by reminding the court of what happened the night Martin died.

10:09 a.m. ET: Prosecutor de la Rionda says that nothing has changed since July when Zimmerman was released. He also wonders why Zimmerman is walking through the front door of the courtroom and appearing on TV if he is in danger.

10:03 a.m. ET: Prosecutor de la Rionda says that the defense can't have it both ways, because they drum up all this publicity then complain he isn't safe. He asks the court why are we here today, to "sign autographs?"

10:00 a.m. ET: Prosecutor de la Rionda reminds the court that Zimmerman deceived the court, and says the defense attorneys would like to pretend that never happened. He also says he opposes the defense's request to amend Zimmerman's bond restrictions.

9:59 a.m. ET: O'Mara says his client should be treated as a person who is accused, not convicted.

9:58 a.m. ET: O'Mara is supporting his argument by showing all the ways Zimmerman has complied with his bond conditions since he was released in July.

9:56 a.m. ET: O'Mara says he doesn't want his client to have to wear a GPS tracking device. He also asks the judge to allow Zimmerman to leave Seminole County for his safety.

9:54 a.m. ET: Nelson moves on to the defense's request to modify Zimmerman's bond restrictions. O'Mara has called a witness who has monitored Zimmerman since he has been released from custody in July. The witness says Zimmerman has complied with all of his condition.s

9:50 a.m. ET: Zimmerman's attorney Don West wants to know which witnesses listened to the 911 call and whether they identified the voices in the recording. De La Rionda agreed and said he would release this information to the defense.

9:49 a.m. ET: The judge is back on the bench and is discussing the 911 call and the recordings of the call.

9:45 a.m. ET: The hearing is about to resume, attorneys are back in the courtroom.

9:41 a.m. ET: Zimmerman is still sitting at the defense table with his eyes closed.

9:36 a.m. ET: The hearing should resume any minute now.

9:31 a.m. ET: During the break, Zimmerman is sitting with his eyes closed at the defense table taking what looks like deep breaths.

9:20 a.m. ET: Judge Nelson suggests that the court take a 10 minute break so attorneys from both sides can talk about what the defense is requesting. Court is now in recess for 10 minutes.

9:19 a.m. ET: Prosecutor Bernie De Le Rionda says he doesn't understand the defense's request. De Le Rionda also says that Zimmerman was played the 911 call and did not identify it as his own voice.

9:17 a.m. ET: West wants all reports, and any analysis of Zimmerman's 911 call turned over to the defense.

9:12 a.m. ET: Zimmerman's attorney Don West is discussing a recording of Zimmerman's call to 911 the night Martin was shot.

9:09 a.m. ET: Nelson clarifies that the defense should have access to all files from any law enforcement agency.

9:06 a.m. ET: Nelson denies O'Mara's request for the FDLE files, because he isn't sure what he needs. She says he needs to go to FDLE and look at their files to find out what he needs first.

9:03 a.m. ET: The defense wants to know if there are any other recordings of the interview between Crump and Martin's girlfriend. Nelson says they need to depose Crump and ask him.

8:59: a.m. ET: Zimmerman's attorneys are asking Nelson to have prosecutors turn over a recording device that has Crump's interview with Martin's girlfriend on it.

8:58: a.m. ET: Nelson says motions need to be filed two days before the date of a hearing for them to be discussed.

8:56 a.m. ET: Judge Nelson is on the bench and is discussing various motions from the defense. The motions include a request for more depositions, and another motion asking for Martin family attorney Ben Crump to turn over evidence. Zimmerman is in court and is wearing a suit.

George Zimmerman case: Judge denies motion to take him off GPS, remove residency constraints10:28 a.m. EST, December 11, 2012

Judge Debra Nelson denied a motion to modify the conditions of George Zimmerman's release after his attorneys argued their client has complied with GPS monitoring and residency restrictions but deserves to be free due to safety concerns.

Zimmerman, accused of second-degree murder in the Feb. 26 shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, has asked Circuit Judge Debra Nelson to remove him from court-ordered GPS monitoring, and to force prosecutors to turn over more records from state and federal investigations of the shooting.

In addition to the bond decision, Nelson ruled on a slew of motions, granting some and denying other defense requests for additional evidence in the case against George Zimmerman in Sanford this morning.

The first two issues to come before the court were decided quickly: Zimmerman may re-depose Sanford police Investigator William Erwin, who the defense says was present when police played 911 audio for Trayvon Martin's father, and the state will turn over the original recording of Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump's interview of a girl identified as the Miami Gardens teen's girlfriend. ::snipping2::

Central Florida News 13 got a real lift during its coverage Tuesday morning of the George Zimmerman hearing. Orlando attorney Mark NeJame has joined the cable channel as a legal analyst.

NeJame became familiar to the TV audience when he was a legal analyst for WKMG-Channel 6 during the Casey Anthony case. NeJame has worked for CNN as an analyst on the Zimmerman case and will continue in that position. In effect, viewers will get to see NeJame do local and national commentary.

On News 13, NeJame put the issues in clear, concise terms. The cornerstone of the Zimmerman case will be who is screaming for help on a recording of the deadly confrontation, NeJame told anchor Jackie Brockington. Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. ::snipping2::

Political committee formed by Trayvon's family gets slow startDecember 10, 2012

Trayvon Martin's family launched a political fund-raising committee earlier this fall, vowing to push public officials to change a law that they say needlessly complicated the case against their son's killer.

They want to revise Florida's "stand your ground" law and similar statutes in other states so people who initiate a violent confrontation cannot claim self-defense and be granted immunity.

"Any time anybody shoots anybody now, they claim stand your ground (immunity)," said Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Trayvon's family and one of the organizers of their new political fund-raising committee. "I don't think that's what any legislators intended for any of these laws to be used for when they passed this law."

But the committee, Change for Trayvon, did not impact the Nov. 6 election, and it's not clear that a lobbying effort in Tallahassee during the upcoming legislative session would be successful.

A statewide task force headed by Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll hammered out a near-final draft of its report last month, and it calls for no change to the law. ::snipping2::

Hubs thinks that George will get off on the charges and thinks that there will be riots..we will see...I think that George will be found not guilty as well.

Hopefully, a good jury is picked; one that will consider all the evidence, testimony of witnesses and experts--unlike the Anthony's jurors who appeared to arrive at a verdict based on the opening/closing statements.

Hear, Hear, Grace-land! A fair and thorough trial with an open minded, intelligent jury is all justice can ask. Regardless of how it turns out, I can respect a decision from a jury who is that. The riot possibility will most likely be there if he isn't found guilty, IMO, but I hope that public reaction, either way, will not even enter the juror's minds.

New Zimmerman evidence: Serino changed final report four times in five hours6:04 p.m. EST, December 12, 2012

SANFORD – After Chris Serino, the Sanford police detective who led the investigation into the Trayvon Martin shooting death, wrote the most important police report in the case, he revised it at least four times.

And he made at least one huge change: He initially said George Zimmerman should be charged with second-degree murder then changed course and recommended a charge of manslaughter, according to a prosecutor and new list of evidence.

Serino made all those revisions to the report summarizing his findings during one five-hour stretch on March 13, according to a newly-released evidence list.

In the first two drafts, according to Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda, Serino wrote that he had probable cause to recommend a second-degree murder charge. Then, over the next hour, he changed the report twice more and in his final version wrote that the evidence supported the lesser charge.

One of Serino's supervisors, Sanford police Capt. Bob O'Connor, said in a July 3 interview that everyone in Serino's chain of command agreed with the investigator's conclusion. Serino's direct supervisor, then-Sgt. Randy Smith, also signed the final version.

Each version was turned over to defense attorneys Tuesday, although they have not yet been made public. That should happen in the next few weeks.::snipping2::Cop did what he was told

The new evidence list shows that on March 13, the day Sanford police surrendered the case to the Office of Seminole-Brevard State Attorney Norm Wolfinger, Serino went to great lengths to polish and revise the final report.

It was a time of extraordinary pressure on the department. National civil rights leaders were accusing Sanford officers of racism and sloppy police work.

There were rallies and marches in Sanford and across the country, and political leaders were pressuring the department to make an arrest.

But police did not have enough evidence to arrest Zimmerman, they said at the time and have repeated ever since. Former Police Chief Bill Lee Jr. and other senior officers said that would have been a violation of his civil rights, so their solution: Dump it on Wolfinger.

For the State Attorney to take over the investigation, however, police had to file the right paperwork, Lee wrote in an email to the Orlando Sentinel in July.

That includes a charging recommendation, Lee wrote, and as lead investigator, that task fell to Serino.

He did what he was told, according to O'Connor. Just above Serino's signature, the veteran investigator wrote, "I believe there exists probable cause for issuance of a capias charging George Michael Zimmerman with manslaughter."

O'Connor told the Sentinel in July, "Basically, the implied order was, 'Get it out the door'… We wrote up what we had, the context of what we had … with the understanding that there was still insufficient evidence for the State Attorney to charge."

On Tuesday, de la Rionda handed the much-revised Serino report to defense attorneys, saying he had received it recently from Serino's attorney, Jose Baez, who advised them that it would likely help Zimmerman. ::snipping2::

I don't think our nation is capable of true justice any longer. Society is now made up of a majority of people who feel entitled to live by their own set of rules. They will not impose accountability on anyone else because they do not want to be held accountable of their own actions. It is much easier to turn a blind eye to justice and continue to live as they like.